Tomorrow morning, the Supreme Court will file its opinion in Serova v. Sony Music Entertainment. (Briefs here; oral argument video here.) It was reported last week that the case has settled. Also last week, defendants filed a notice of settlement and plaintiff filed a response to the notice.
This will be the fifth of seven opinions for cases argued on the late-May calendar. One of the other opinions will likely file on Monday and one, in a death penalty appeal with post-argument briefing, should file by September 12. Additionally, there are six more opinions for June calendar cases that are due to file by September 1.
Serova is expected to address: (1) Do representations a seller made about a creative product on the product packaging and in advertisements during an ongoing controversy constitute speech in connection with an issue of public interest within the meaning of the anti-SLAPP statute (Code of Civ. Proc., § 425.16)? (2) For purposes of liability under the Unfair Competition Law (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 17200 et seq.) and the Consumer Legal Remedies Act (Civ. Code, § 1750 et seq.), do the seller’s marketing representations constitute commercial speech, and does it matter if the seller lacked personal knowledge that the representations were false? (See Kasky v. Nike, Inc. (2002) 27 Cal.4th 939.) The court granted review — for a second time — in April 2020.
The opinion can be viewed tomorrow starting at 10:00 a.m.